Thailand on the big screen

This year has been something of a roller-coaster ride for the Thai film industry, with some studios making major profits and others taking a hit on what they thought would be their sure-fire projects.

The most successful film of 2013 – of Thai film history, in fact – was GTH’s “Pee Mak Phra Khanong”, which is estimated to have earned more than B1 billion at the box office. Though more formal bookkeeping that takes into account overseas sales has yet to be analysed, with more than Bt500 million taken in Bangkok and Chiang Mai alone plus some Bt450 million earned from other Asian countries, it’s likely to top that magic billion marker. 

The biggest flop came with the much anticipated action movie “Tom-Yum-Goong 2”, which fell flat on its face, earning just Bt56 million, a tenth of what it had cost to make.

For Sahamongkol Film International, it was a major disappointment, not least because they had publicly vowed that “TYG2” would mark their triumphant comeback to the Asian action scene. It should have worked too, with the original “Ong-Bak” team, director Prachya Pinkaew, action choreographer Panna Ritthikrai and martial-arts star Thatchakorn “Tony Jaa” Yeerum, having pushed their earlier contretemps aside and working closely throughout the two years of filming.

But Jaa threw a spanner into the works just weeks before the scheduled release, tearing up his contract and heading to Hollywood to film “Fast and Furious 7”. He refused to take part in any promotional events for “TYG2”. Director Prachya said the row with Sahamongkol wouldn’t affect the film but those who begged to differ were proved right in the long run.

Another production house to feel the pinch was M-Thirtynine, whose remake of the much-loved wartime tale “Khoo Kam” failed to launch despite featuring leading soap star Nadech Kugimiya in the role of the Japanese soldier Kobori.

Released just a week after “Pee Mak”, “Khoo Kam” was effectively killed off by the social networks, which in the couple of years have played a pivotal role in promoting Thai films. While it did very well in its pre-release campaign, the negative feedback after its premiere badly hurt box-office takings.

There was of course no inkling of the dramas that lay ahead at the beginning of 2013, which kicked off with a mix of indie and studio films like “Menu Khong Phor (“Daddy’s Menu”) and Wave Pictures’ debut outing “Thongsuk 13” (“Long Weekend”).

The gritty crime tale “Sarawat Mah Baa” (“The Cop”), the first film of MR Chalermchatri “Adam” Yukol, youngest son of veteran director MC Chatrichalerm, didn’t register on the charts.

Chookiat Sakveerakul’s teen comedy-drama “Grean Fictions” was in and out of cinemas with little more than a ripple. However, Chookiat stirred up controversy if not hard cash by posting photographs of sexy men and boys in student uniforms on Instagram before the film was released. The director responded to the criticisms of improper exposure by announcing that the photographs were part of his upcoming exhibition.

A few films enjoyed modest success at the box office with takings of about B40 million, among them Poj Anon’s 3D horror “Mor 6/5 Pak Mah Tha Phee” and M-Thirtynine’s Japan-set thriller “Hashima Project”.

The March release, “Young Bao the Movie”, a biopic of songs-for-life band Carabao, left the cinema with its tail between its legs, the victim of withdrawal by its producers and sponsors after Bodyslam frontman, Ativara “Toon Bodyslam” Kongmalai, pulled out from the lead role.

Of the 40 odd films released in 2013, almost half were independent productions, among them the thriller “Long Jamnam” (“Pawn Shop”), homosexual tale “Timeline Phror Rak Mai Me Thee Sin Sud” and romantic drama “Prayok Sanya Rak” (“Present Perfect Continuous Tense”). 

Two indie directors who made ripples in 2012 – Nawapol Tamrongrattanarit with “36” and Kongdej Jaturanrasmee with “Tae Peang Phu Deaw” (“P-047”) – returned with new projects. Nawapol came up with “Mary Is Happy, Mary Is Happy”, which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and recently went on limited release, earning more than Bt1 million and delighting the critics. 

Kongdej’s “Tang Wong”, meanwhile, reached a larger section of the Thai audience than “P-047” but didn’t make as much money as hoped.

Documentaries stirred up controversies and had censors reaching for their “ban” stamp. Nontawat Numbenchapol’s “Fahtum Pandinsoong” (“Boundary”) was initially banned but after outcry on social networks and intense media coverage, the order was rescinded two days later. But the movie theatres were scared off and refused to advertise screening times. The director fixed the problem by selling tickets himself, but he had to shorten his planned theatrical run.

Nontawat did manage to reach a wider audience with his next documentary, “At the River”, which was the closing film of the last month’s World Film Festival of Bangkok and screened on public TV channel Thai PBS.

Nontawat’s censorship problems were echoed by another politically sensitive film, “Pachatipathai” (“Paradoxocracy”) by directors Pen-ek Ratanaruang and Pasakorn Pramoolwong. They made a few changes on the recommendation of the film and video board but faced difficulties with the multiplexes, which refused to list the show times.

Manit Sriwanichpoom and Ing K, who made headlines when their documentary “Shakespeare Must Die” was banned by censors in 2012, responded with “Censor Must Die”, a documentary on their struggles in appealing against the ban of “Shakespeare Must Die”. The documentary passed the censors’ scrutiny and was given a limited release at Bangkok’s Friese-Greene Club, a private pub and cinema that seats just nine people. It was opened this year by long-time local industry hand, British filmmaker Paul Spurrier.

Two other and far less controversial documentaries enjoyed modest success. “Wish Us Luck”, which follows the journey of twin sisters Wanwaew and Waewwan Hongwiwat, as they travel by train from England to Thailand went on limited release as did the documentary-drama hybrid “Karaoke Girl” by Visra Vichit-Vadakan.

One of the most notable films of the year was one that ended up not being released –MC Chatrichalerm’s “The Legend of King Naresuan”, which started filming almost exactly nine years ago. The fifth instalment, which has been postponed several times and for which a new release date has yet to be set, has recently been beset by rumours that the money has run out. However, producers say the delays are due to difficulties in filming the movie’s elephant stars.